Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Revlon Nearly Naked Makeup: Swatches + Review!

This review is SO beyond overdue... my apologies. I've had the photos kicking around on my computer for a couple of weeks now but I've just been trying to enjoy the last month of Summer by embracing my inner sloth (not my top vice amongst the seven big ones but definitely up there); writing blog posts just doesn't dance with Galileo-cuddle-time while catching up on Dexter.

Anywho, excuses aside, let's take the jump together to look at this extremely hyped foundation shall we?

I know I mentioned it in my Best & Worst of Beauty video last month but, to reiterate: it was a huge surprise, even to me, that I picked up another Revlon foundation directly after the six month fiasco that was my Revlon Colorstay foundation (I don't want to talk about it, okay? #neveragain). However, I am no different from the herd known as 'the beauty community' so, as the saying goes, I followed suit; I fell victim to the hype by throwing this into my basket while browsing the makeup isles of Target one day even though I had no need for cosmetics at the time (as you do).

As far as I can tell, Revlon foundations are like sisters; they share the same packaging but their personalities couldn't be more different and ironically similar at the same time. In my opinion, Colorstay is the popular girl at school who, when you finally go to her house to hang out with her, you find that you really have nothing in common (in fact, you come to despise her) and in the end you find yourself hanging out with her less-appreciated and slightly annoying little sister Nearly Naked.

To take things further, Colorstay is Mackenzie Zales and Nearly Naked is Trisha Cappalletti (if you've never seen The Most Popular Girls in School I highly suggest you do so... now). Mackenzie is the leader of the popularity pack but she's a balding b*tch that I just can't stand. On the other hand, Trisha may be a part of Mackenzie's clique but she's unbelievably more likable; even though you want to slap her every now and again during a bout of her stupidity, you can't help but turn those slaps into love taps and want to see more (seriously, the Trisha show needs to happen).

In makeup terms (I don't know why I always bombard you with analogies; first it was Twilight in my Colorstay review and now it's MPGiS for Nearly Naked? Oy vey...), I'm basically saying that Nearly Naked has its downfalls but is far superior to Colorstay. It comes in the same annoyingly useless and mess-making pumpless bottle and the foundation itself clings to dry patches without actually covering much in terms of skin imperfections.

The above photo was taken with a healthy dose of Nearly Naked smeared across my face. You can see it prominently in my nose pores as well as in patches under my eyes and on my chin. It's also obvious that it did nearly nothing (see what I did there?) in terms of covering the breakout I had along my cheek; I get that the foundation is supposed to give you the appearance of being 'nearly naked' (aka appearing skin-like) but if I wanted my skin to look like my skin I just wouldn't wear foundation at all. Surprisingly enough though, it did cover more than what my Colorstay covered on account of the formula being substantially thicker.

Thankfully I've found that, much like with my Colorstay foundation, mixing the Nearly Naked foundation with my Neutrogena Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer makes this work. And when I say work, I mean I would give this combination Holy Grail status but the fact that I have to mix two products together (aka a messy morning hassle) detracts ever so slightly from its glory. The above photo is just a day after the previous so you can see that, even though I was dealing with the same problem skin, adding the Neutrogena tinted moisturizer to the foundation concealed my imperfections and added a dewiness to the otherwise dry and cakey-looking Nearly Naked.

You can click the above photo to enlarge it and really see how everything compares in a lineup. Aside from the obvious coverage and finish factors that I've gone through already, you can also see that there is a major color difference; the Nearly Naked foundation that I have (130 Shell), while the right shade, is much too pink toned for my neutral-yet-slightly-yellow-based skin. Adding my slightly-too-orange-for-me tinted moisturizer adds the perfect amount of yellow to Nearly Naked's pink and creates a winning concoction (you can really see how good of a match it is in comparison to my neck!).

Phewfta!!

I knew this was going to be a long post (hence I've been putting it off by embracing my inner sloth) but I'm glad to finally have it up for you all. While the Revlon Nearly Naked foundation isn't perfect by any stretch of the means, I've truly been loving it mixed with my current tinted moisturizer; I have a few other tinted moisturizers in my makeup drawer and I hope they perform just as well with this foundation in the future.

There's the difference folks: I can actually see a future with Nearly Naked... Colorstay, on the other hand, had me wailing for a divorce!!

The name definitely is misleading!! I haven't tried any BB creams (at least not authentic ones; I've tried the American version though and hate that they're nothing more than a super no-coverage tinted moisturizer) but the coverage really is quite different :)

This looks really good on you! I have this foundation (the same color and everything) and I really like it! It doesn't have perfect coverage used alone, but I honestly really like it for lighter days when I want to let my skin breathe!

I found that the best way to make Nearly Naked work for me is when it's applied with a damp beauty blender (dupe). My RT brush tend to make it all streaky. Eeek! You should definitely check out the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum (free shipping on asos.com!) - it's the same, but a lot better in my opinion! x

Ahhhh I've been meaning to get a Beauty Blender!! I just have trouble with the thought of spending that much money on a glorified sponge/I haven't heard great reviews about dupes (do share a good one if you know of one!)! This foundation definitely streaks on its own though, yikes! Not cute :( And yes, I've also wanted to try the Bourjois Serum!! I just get SO scared ordering a foundation online because of color matching.

No, haven't tried this one, and no current fav foundation. I've been on the prowl for a few yrs now to find a HG, and no such luck as of yet. I used to lovvvve the Revlon Mineral Mousse (came in a black tube) that was discontinued a few yrs bk...but, as much as I loved it I did have to mix it with a tiny bit of my Natures Gate fragrance-free moisturizer, and a pinhead size drop of Benefit High Beam. That combo = skin perfection, it actually kept me shine-free for 5+ hrs which is a miracle.

Ahhhh the HG hunt is a tough one, especially when it comes to foundation T__T I wish you luck in your search! Such a shame it sounds like you once had a miracle combo but hopefully in the near future you can find that perfect fit for you skin once again :)

It actually did some covering up considering it's supposed to give a sheer finish. Usually these kinds of foundations are for people with flawless skin who want their skin to breathe while wearing foundation.

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